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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Publishing | Kim Masters casts a spotlight on Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, who stands to make about $1.5 billion in the Disney-Marvel deal: “Perlmutter is a man of mystery in Hollywood and beyond — go ahead, try to find a picture of him. He’s so committed to keeping things secretive that a studio source says Perlmutter attended the premiere of Iron Man disguised in glasses and a moustache — though it’s unclear how anyone would have recognized him if he’d just come as himself. In Monday’s conference call with investors about the deal, Perlmutter’s voice was never heard.” [The Daily Beast]

Publishing | This announcement, made over the weekend, was nearly lost amid the Disney-Marvel mayhem: Japanese publishing giants Shogakkan and Shueisha, co-owners of Viz Media, have purchased two European distributors of anime for an undisclosed amount. Paris-based Kaze and Berlin-based Anime Virtual will be merged into Viz Media Europe in September. [Variety]

Publishing | The shutdown of anime distributor and manga publisher A.D. Vision appears to be complete, as the company announces the last assets of its ADV Films division have been transferred to other companies. [Anime News Network]

Legal | A Congolese accountant plans to file a lawsuit in France claiming that Herge’s controversial Tintin in the Congo is racist and xenophobic propoganda for colonialism. The 41-year-old man, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, took similar action two years ago in Belgium, seeking symbolic damages of one euro and demanding the 1931 collection be removed from the market. However, his attorney received no response from the Belgian courts. [Telegraph]

Conventions | Fan Expo Canada, held last weekend in Toronto, drew a reported 59,000 unique attendees, which represents a 28-percent increase over 2008. That number makes it the third-largest convention of its type in North America, behind Comic-Con International and New York Comic Con. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | In his latest Q&A, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort all but dashes any hopes of future DC-Marvel crossovers: “There’s always a possibility, but I’m not sure that anybody in a position to make a difference on either side of the fence is particularly jazzed about the notion of doing more of these. We’ve already covered a wide gamut in terms of crossovers we’ve already produced, some good and some bad, to the point where the whole thing has lost a lot of its uniqueness. It may just be that I’m spoiled because I got to work on Avengers/JLA, the last one, but I don’t feel any tremendous pull to do another one. Then again, there are cool creators who haven’t had a chance in the pool, so you never know.” [Marvel.com]

Retailing | Asylum Comics in Marietta, Ohio, has moved from Second Street to the Muskingum Shopping Center. “This was definitely a positive move,” says owner Jordan Lowe. “It’s been an upgrade.” [The Marietta Register]

Creators | Jim Salicrup discusses Papercutz, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, and working at Marvel. [The Vault]